A rose by any other name...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackbre...h=38e2dd8d12b7
QAnon Content Is ‘Evaporating’ From The Internet, New Report Finds
TOPLINE Since social media companies cracked down on QAnon content following the January 6 Capitol riot, catchphrases and secret messages related to the conspiracy theory have all but disappeared, a new report finds—an indication that Big Tech has the power to squash dangerous online movements when it wants to.
A report published by the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensics Lab on Wednesday concluded that QAnon-related “chatter” surged at the beginning of the pandemic, peaked in June 2020 during the protests following George Floyd’s death, and spiked again in the lead-up to the January 6 Capitol riot.
Appearances of QAnon-related content on mainstream social media platforms decreased to “a low murmur” after social media companies tightened their moderation policies and banned thousands of QAnon accounts and groups after the Capitol attack, the report found.
The “prolonged silence” from the original “Q” poster, as well as former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss and “encouragement” from many in the Q online community to use different code language has also had an effect on the decline in QAnon-related chatter, but Big Tech’s crackdown had the most profound impact, the lab said.
Despite increased attention on alternative social media platforms like Parler, Gab and Telegram, QAnon-related chatter has not come close to reaching the scale it did on mainstream social media platforms.
Popular traditional QAnon catch phrases include “WWG1WGA” (“Where we go one we go all”), “the storm,” and the “great awakening”—which have been ditched by continued adherents of the conspiracy to avoid detection.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“These findings dissuade conceptions that QAnon followers are using alternative social media platforms in traditional ways at a scale that competes with their prior activity on mainstream platforms,” the researchers said.
KEY BACKGROUND
QAnon followers were anxiously waiting for the day when Trump would round up and arrest a global network of Hollywood actors, Democrats and other famous people they falsely believed
{staff edit-CK}. The adherents developed entrenched communities online, communicating with each other using code language and catchphrases. The January 6 attack was organized by many of the same right-wing message boards where the conspiracy theory thrived, and several rioters were identified as known QAnon influencers. After President Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20 and the QAnon community’s big day, predictably, never came, many followers lost faith and the anonymous Q poster went silent.
Q content evaporating into fresh air...
